Naruto: Shikamaru's Team Twelve
by Tench-Sama
Summary: Shikamaru finds himself in charge of three Genin. However he is not the same person as he was when he made Chuunin. Not by a long shot. He's got a whole branch of shinobi at his command. Shadows from his past threaten to strangle him. Will Shikamaru's team be his savior or the bringer of destruction?
1. Enter Team Twelve!

Shikamaru was ushered along by one of Godaime's assistants, ironically the one whose name he could never remember.

"Erm. Thanks …"

"Ayase, Shikamaru-san."

"Thanks, Ayase-san."

Shikamaru nodded to Ayase as he entered the Godaime's office. The Godaime, Tsunade, was seated behind a large pile of paper. Before he approached her, Shikamaru looked about her office. Nothing changed much since the Sandaime's death in terms of decoration. A few more scrolls depicting battles of years past were hung, but nothing more than that as far as he knew. He supposed she was very busy with paperwork and running the country.

Shikamaru approached her desk. "Tsunade-sama," said Shikamaru. "May I have a moment of your time?" Shikamaru waited a few seconds. Her lack of response prompted him to peer over the top of the stack of papers.

"_Or maybe she doesn't redecorate because she sleeps all day." _

Shikamaru walked around the desk and leaned in closer to Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, there is some fresh sake for you."

Tsunade's head snapped up and approximated the movements of a meerkat. That is if meerkats searched for possible alcoholic beverages as opposed to danger.

"Huh? What?"

Tsunade saw Shikamaru to the left of her and knew she'd been had.

"Argh," groaned Tsunade as she rubbed her eyes vigorously. "I should have known. So do you have a drink for me or not?" Tsunade stood up and yawned.

Shikamaru buzzed in Ayase, who opened the door and stuck her head in. "Yes, Hokage sama?"

Tsunade groaned and put her hand on her forehead to stay the oncoming headache. "Two coffee, black. Milk and sugar on the side," said Shikamaru. "Oh, and a bottle of aspirin."

Ayase smiled and said "Yes, Shikamaru-san." She quietly closed the door behind her and set herself to her task.

"Ahem. So when did you get in, Shikamaru?" Tsunade returned to her seat and began to read and stamp documents.

"I just entered the gates two minutes ago and came here right away." Shikamaru took a seat across from Tsunade." The mission was a success. Every member of my team has returned unscathed, for the most part. The Akatsuki has retreated for the time being. My team's intel shows them pulling out of the Water Country. I –"

"How's your eye?" Tsunade asked as she stared down at her documents. She continued to pour over her documents all the while Shikamaru looked pensively out the window.

Shikamaru fingered his hitai ate which covered his left eye, much like The Copy Ninja Kakashi. Shikamaru had undergone surgery which replaced his eye with that of Hinata's late father, Hiashi. As the Hokage's pet genius he was constantly referred to as "The Eye of Konoha" or simply "The Eye."

"It's fine," he lied. "It was a bit itchy at first, but it's become more manageable." In truth the eye drained his chakra at an alarming rate when he activated it. So much so that he is, at times, unable to perform the most basic of jutsu. If that were all the eye did to him it would have been less troublesome. However, since the eye was a foreign entity to his body he was finding it difficult to turn the switch off. He has been less successful than Kakashi in that regard with the eye ending up activating sporadically. At one point he woke up in a sweat having the eye drain his chakra in his sleep.

"Okay. How about the truth now?"

"Hai, hai."

"One 'hai' is enough."

Shikamaru's eyes returned to Tsunade who was still furiously stamping documents. "It's troublesome that it drains so much of my chakra, but I'll manage. I already have a plan developed to counteract all this, but it might take some time before it bears fruit.

Shikamaru's eyes darkened slightly. "Has there been news about – her?"

Tsunade slowly lifted her head from her work. "There hasn't been any word of her. You know that." Her eyes softened. "But if I hear anything – _anything_, you'll be the first I notify." Shikamaru nodded and lowered his eyes to the floor.

As if to break Shikamaru's darkened mood Tsunade changed the topic of conversation to one even more troublesome.

"You know you might have an even greater sphere of intelligence if you took this promotion I'm offering to you."

Shikamaru sighed very audibly. This was a little game he and Tsunade played from time to time. She'd offer him the rank of Jounin sans the test and he'd reply with a negative.

"Tsunade-sama you and I both know that I'm best suited to small unit operation."

"Oh, really?" she said with a smile. Shikamaru steeled himself for an ace. "And the Hyuuga mansion incident was a small unit operation?"

Shikamaru returned the smile. "That incident not withstanding I still conduct operations with only three teammates." Tsunade's left eyebrow rose incredulously. "Well, most of the time." Shikamaru added belatedly.

This time Tsunade sighed audibly. "Anyway. Jounin or not I'm assigning you three graduates from the academy." Tsunade raised her hand to forestall any complaints from Shikamaru. "We're short of Jounin. And the number of graduates from this year's class exceeded our expectations."

"But why do I have to take care of them? There are other Chuunin with more experience than I have. Why don't you have them take care of this?"

"You've been running around on missions for the better part of the year. I'm giving this assignment to you as a kind of working vacation. You'll be sent their profiles tonight and you'll be meeting them tomorrow."

Shikamaru sighed and thrust his hands into his pockets. "Are you sure you aren't doing this just because I didn't take Jounin?"

"No. That's just an added bonus." Tsunade smiled at him before she returned her attention to her documents.

"I wonder what's keeping Ayase," Shikamaru wondered aloud as he walked to the door.

"Show Kiba in will you, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru opened the door, and sure enough there was Kiba, a member of Shikamaru's small circle of ninja he'd trust with a kunai to his throat, was flirting with Tsunade's secretary.

Shikamaru shook his head as he told Kiba to enter Tsunade's office.

_I think she's giving me this assignment because I constantly have to deal with children._

* * *

Shikamaru woke with a start. He had forgotten that he set his alarm clock to wake him at six in the morning. He spent the whole of last night pouring over his soon to be apprentices' files. He was surprised by the sheer volume of information given to him. Birth certificates, medical history, psychological evaluations and their marks in school were all included. Seeing that these files were more extensive than those of team 10 when he was Asuma's disciple gave Shikamaru a foreboding feeling about handling these children.

Shikamaru arrived earlier than expected to Iruka sensei's class. Shikamaru fired up his Byakugan, still covered by his hitai-ate, and peered through the walls to see Iruka group the children into their new squads. Shikamaru groaned audibly. Even though the files on his students were large it did not have within its contents a single picture of any of them. Shikamaru held back the urge to step back as Iruka and the children turned to look in his direction. He told himself that Iruka couldn't have seen him.

"You can come in, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru shut his Byakugan off an entered the room as per Iruka.

"How'd you know I was there?"

"We could hear your breathing from this side of the wall."

Shikamaru nodded curtly. He chastised himself, not because his breathing was labored, but because he knew it would be labored due to the many times he has used the Byakugan and did not account for it.

"So which ones are mine?"

Iruka looked down at his role sheet and beckoned forth three students.

"Edogawa Kasumi, Nanahara Keiko, and Yamada Natsuhiko," said Iruka "you are now designated as team twelve. This will be your sensei, Nara Shikamaru who you may know as "The Eye of Konoha."

Shikamaru glared at his former sensei before turned it to his wide eyed students. "Before we begin I want you to know that the passing rate under my tutelage is zero percent."

The three visually paled at the comment. However before Kasumi could give her yelp of hopelessness Iruka stepped in to clarify things.

"What Shikamaru-sensei is trying to say is that," said Iruka as he glared at Shikamaru "you three are his very first students ever."

The trio visibly slumped in relief. Their collective breaths exhaled.

"You enjoy ruining my fun don't you sensei?" Shikamaru gave his sensei a wry grin, totally ignoring the sudden relief emanating from his students. "Alright. Follow me."

They entered another room down the hall. The students situated themselves in the only desks available and waited for Shikamaru to speak.

"As Iruka sensei has already told you, I am your new Chuunin sensei, Nara Shikamaru, and I'll be taking you under my wi –"

"Shikamaru-sensei! Why are you only a Chuunin?" asked Kasumi as she stood at her desk. "Aren't you supposed to be a Jounin before being assigned Ge –"

Shikamaru raised a hand to stall further questions. "Tsunade-sama's orders. If you have a problem with it you should take it up with her." Kasumi resumed sitting.

"Ok. I'll start us off by introducing myself and my likes and dislikes," said Shikamaru. "Ahem. My name is Nara Shikamaru and my likes are sleeping in, watching clouds, and playing strategy games. I dislike anything troublesome which includes: women, training, missions, and having to deal with my mother."

Natsuhiko stood. "My name is Yamada Natsuhiko. I like reading books, watching comedy movies, painting pictures, cooking, and basketball. I dislike cleaning my room, and rainy days. I also hope to bring about peace to all the hidden villages."

"Very admirable of you Natsuhiko," Shikmaru said.

Shikamaru eyed each of his students carefully. Natsuhiko was of middling height for girls of her age, twelve. Her attire consisted of denim overalls over a white undershirt, the standard ninja sandals, and her hitai-ate wrapped as a neckerchief. She held her hair in a single braid which swung back and forth in an almost happy-dog like manner. Her skin was tanned, smooth, and glowing. Bright russet colored eyes that hid behind sandy brown bangs seemed alive and yearning for adventure. From what he remembered in her dossier she was an extremely competent genjutsu user, but lacked the stamina for prolonged engagements. Also her attention span is fleeting which may or may not have anything to do with earlier trust issues she had with her other teachers.

Kasumi stood. "Hi! I'm Edogawa Kasumi. My likes are reading shoujo manga, watching anime, boys, and using my taijustu to kick the crap out of them. I also hope to create the perfect jutsu." Shikamaru restrained himself from raising an eyebrow. Her dossier said nothing of her apparent hatred of boys.

Kasumi was a full head above Natsuhiko. She walked with a skip in her step and shone forth a smile for the whole world to see. It made Shikamaru sort of nauseated. Her long flowing hair and cutesy pink sailor outfit made her seem as though she were more diva than ninja. However Shikamaru knew better thanks to the dossiers. He knew that her features belied the fact that she was a documented taijutsu specialist, seemingly following in the footsteps of Rock Lee. Her scores in chakra manipulation were just above failing levels. Shikamaru wondered if her lack of chakra control would become a hindrance in future missions.

Keiko stood. "I'm Nanahara Keiko. I like to read, eat ramen, and solve puzzles. I hate public speaking and boys. I hope to be the next 'Eye of Konoha.' Thank you."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow. "If you ever want to get an experimental eye transplant, lead a group of ninja against your own village members, and have every assassin hunting you down every single minute of every single day then, yes you're welcome to become the next 'Eye of Konoha.'

Keiko stood as tall as Natsuhiko and has a recorded I.Q. of one hundred sixty-eight, which gave her genius status. However, her scores in practical were merely above failing levels whereas her test scores were top of her class. She wore clothes similar to that of chuunin and jounin, but instead of a vest she wrapped herself in a cloak with her clan's symbol on her left breast. She kept her hair short which along with her beautiful facial features and lithe body gave her the appearance of a pixie. Her demeanor though, was far from pixie like. She kept her head in her books and only spoke with others when spoken to first, and then only for as long as she deemed necessary. Also she incessantly harped at Iruka to train her in genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu, all areas in which she was merely passable. Shikamaru found this fact to be extremely troublesome since she would more than likely harp at him to do the same.

_Oh, well. I guess I'll sleep some other time._

Throughout their little speeches he kept his attention on his students' reactions. Natsuhiko and Kasumi politely and smilingly paid attention and gave appropriate scowls when he mentioned that women were troublesome. Keiko surprisingly stared at him very intensely throughout everyone's speeches. He could not place why she was so intent on staring at him, which to say was very disconcerting.

Shikamaru stood. "That'll be all for today. Tomorrow I'll be conducting a series of tests including a written test, a field test, and an eye exam."

Shikamaru saw his students quietly file out of the room and said to himself: 'This is going to be interesting.'


	2. Out of the Box

Shikamaru led his students out of the academy. They had just taken a written test. Its purpose is to give Shikamaru a better picture of what they knew and what they needed to know.

Shikamaru began walking toward the old clearing where he planned to test his students.

He was giving their tests a once over and nodded to himself. They had all passed with at least a ninety percent. However it was their write-in answers to the question "What's the quickest way to aquire an item from a target?" that intrigued him.

"_Use genjutsu to incapacitate the target and then grab the item."_

"_I'd use my taijutsu to kick his ass and then take the thing from him."_

"_I would find his weakness and then attemt to attack said weakness until the target was no longer a threat and then simply take the item from his dead body."_

Intrigued was the right word.

He came to a stop in the middle of the field.

"For this exercise your objective is to obtain these bells." Shikamaru dug in his pouch and held up said bells. "Usually, only two bells are used, but I'm going to tell you the secret to this exercise: teamwork."

"Teamwork," asked Yamada. She scratched her head in wonderment. "We weren't trained to work as a team. At the academy all the exercises and tests were placed on us individually."

"That is why you've been placed together. That is why I've been placed to oversee your training. And that is why we're doing this exercise."

Shikamaru gave his students a steady stare. He formed a hand seal followed by a large poof and a large cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared the students found their sensei standing beside himself.

"You're to obtain the bells by any means necessary," said Shikamaru "while I take a nap under that tree. You have as much time as you need." Shikamaru walked away leaving his kagebunshin with his students.

"Begin." The trio disappeared into the trees, hiding as best they could from their master. Shikamaru smirked to himself at how well his students hid.

They hid behind a bush collectively holding their breaths for fear of being discovered. They signaled each other to meet in the small clearing south-south west of where Shikamaru stood. They moved silently.

Natsuhiko was the last to the clearing and was waved in by Keiko. Kasumi stood by looking calm and alert.

They huddled in close. "Does anyone have a plan," asked Keiko as she surveyed the land on which their sensei stood.

"He controls shadows right" asked Natsuhiko. "Well, we only have about two hours before the sun completely sets. Should we wait until then? Maybe he can't use his shadows at night.

Kasumi nodded.

Keiko however was thinking back to what she had read up on her sensei. In his final test for Chuunin status he was able to use shadows within shadows. _Assuming that he can use shadows within shadows...__Even though the sun will be gone the moon still reflects light and there is a large chance that Sensei can use the shadow of the Earth to his advantage. We can't let it get that far._

"I don't think we should wait until then. What if he is able to use the shadow of the Earth as his own? We'd be hard pressed to stop him."

"Alright. We'll attack him now. If you two can distract him, I'm sure that I can snatch the bells before his shadows can reach me," said Kasumi.

"Okay," said Keiko. "Let's see what we have to work with." They emptied their pouches. Between the three of them they had twelve explosive tags, a gross of assorted throwing weapons, six smoke grenades, a handful of caltrops, fishing wire and a flash grenade.

Keiko outlined the plan and a second one should the first not work. With nods coming from her squadmates Keiko's heart swelled up with a bit of pride. It was rare that her classmates would recognize her for anything other than a loner who sat by herself at lunch. But now wasn't the time for gushing.

Keiko finally looked up from their tools. "Okay. Let's move."

Time passed slowly for Shikamaru's kagebunshin as he waited in the field. The sun was nearly half set already and the clock was ticking. If his team wasn't careful they'd face the wrath of his kagemane no jutsu.

Finally one of his students touched down after jumping off of a particularly high tree top. As she crouched in front of him he could tell that it was Kasumi.

"Hello, Sensei," Kasumi said as she lifted her head to meet his eyes. She was sweating, her breathing was rapid, and her hands were shaking ever so slightly. She was nervous. "En garde."

Kasumi leapt toward Shikamaru leaving a trail of large dust clouds in her wake. Her right fist cocked back to connect to his head. Shikamaru ducked down and wind rushed the top of his head as her fist missed the target. Shikamaru marveled at her breakneck speed, the likes of which he hadn't seen since Rock Lee showcased his during the preliminaries of their first Chuunin exam. She didn't blink at the missed contact and used the over swing to spin her body around to put more strength to her left roundhouse kick. Shikamaru set his stance with his arms crossed over his chest to receive the blow which pushed him back five feet.

Shikamaru made to side step to his left but found that the ground had been littered with caltrops. He smiled to himself thinking that as he dodged her first attack she opened her fist and released the caltrops while he was looking at the ground. With his path to the left sealed he moved to his right and found that Kasumi was mimicking his movements. She made a large leap left and pushed herself toward Shikamaru with a kunai in each hand, the one in her left hand held in a reverse position.

Clang. Clang.

Kasumi threw her two kunai at her sensei, but Shikamaru had brought up two kunai to his defense. Now he felt his movements were a bit sluggish. Wide-eyed he watched idly by as her kunai cut through the air screaming toward his face. He arms moved too slowly to block or even to deflect the blow so he did the only thing that popped into his mind in this situation; he narrowed eyes and bellowed something out loud that startled Kasumi.

"KAI!"

Shikamaru ventured a peak and found himself looking upon his three students, one of whom was kneeling down sweating a river and taking in ragged breaths.

Natsuhiko looked up to her teammates and offered a small shrug of apology.

"Sorry, but it's like I said before: I'm still not proficient enough to point the genjutsu to a certain target. If you all tried to get the bells while he was under, you too would have been under the spell."

"It's alright Natsuhiko," Kasumi said. "At least you were able to tire him a little bit."

It was true. Shikamaru stood a few feet away from them also breathing rather heavily with sweat on his brow. He flexed his hands as he moved his arms about. He stood in his spot as they formulated their next plan of attack.

"Looks like plan two is in effect, right Keiko," Kasumi asked.

Keiko gave an abrupt nod. "Yes."

"Not good." Shikamaru twisted his body to the left just narrowly dodging the punch that Kasumi threw as she ran past him. Kasumi literally ran circles around Shikamaru occasionally throwing punches and kicks in his direction. However it seemed that attacking him was second on her mind. She seemed to be merely stalling for Keiko who was just a blur as Kasumi ran by. "She's fast." That was a huge understatement. Kasumi was a mere blur to her two teammates. She was easily followed by Shikamaru's eyes though. _She's fast, but Genin fast._

"Gotcha." Shikamaru had grabbed the back of Kasumi's collar and threw her toward Natsuhiko. Kasumi landed with a thud, but rolled on her side for several feet to reduce the damage. This left Keiko, who had been making seals since Shikamaru dodged Kasumi's first punch, open to Shikamaru's attack. But that attack never came. Still, Keiko flew through her seals as fast as her hands would allow her, which didn't seem all that fast. But the team was counting on her and she didn't want to be the only one to fail in their role. She finished her last seal and took in a deep breath.

"Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Shikamaru leapt into the air as the ball of flame headed toward him. Her use of the jutsu did not surprise him. He knew that the academy was increasing the difficulty and the lethality of their curriculum after the events that took place at the Hyuuga estate a few years ago.

"You'll have to do a bit better than that."

Keiko and her teammates shared a smirk. "It's not over yet, Sensei." As if to put an exclamation mark on her statement the fireball landed just behind Shikamaru onto a waiting pile of throwing weapons and explosive notes. The blast enveloped Shikamaru in a torrent of kunai, shuriken and throwing knives. The sharp objects whizzed past Shikamaru nicking him as they went by, though not enough to dispel the jutsu. Three blurs rose in his wake. Their expressions were unreadable, but their killing intent was as palpable as any he ever encountered.

"If you get too close to me you'll be caught up in my kagemane no jutsu," warned Shikamaru as he took up a defensive stance and occasionally dodging a rogue kunai.

"Well, Sensei," said Keiko. "We're still ascending and all our shadows are growing smaller by the second."

"Then I'll just have to make an effort." Shikamaru threw his hands into the rat seal. Far below the four of them Shikamaru's shadow edged toward those of his students. Sweat grew on his brow as he fought through chakra exhaustion, the original Shikamaru only gave him so much chakra to work with and now it was depleting quickly as he struggled to win an uphill battle against a disappearing shadow.

Kasumi said "Let's end this." With that said Natsuhiko threw their only flash grenade just below them. The blinding flash changed their shadows from disappearing to nonexistence. In the second of excruciatingly bright light Kasumi kicked off of Keiko and Natsuhiko toward their sensei and inched closer to their goal.

Shikamaru's clone lay on the ground looking up at blue sky. His breathing began returning to normal when his students landed by his sides with identical grins.

"Looks like we passed with flying colors, Sensei." Keiko's grin was large and natural. Her spirits were high after she and her teammates just outmaneuvered the greatest mind in Konoha.

"Yeah, maybe he isn't as smart as people say he is," laughed Kasumi as she repeatedly threw up the bells and caught them.

Shikamaru smirked as he continued to catch his breath on the ground. "I wouldn't count my hens before my eggs hatched if I were you. Are you sure that you grabbed the bells?"

"Of course, what do you think are in my – " Kasumi's eyes grew into saucers. She looked into her palm and found that the bells that were just there a second ago had turned into rocks. "What the heck?" She clenched her fist around the rocks and cocked her hand back intending to throw them at their prone sensei, but something held her back. It wasn't a conscience or anything of the like. She physically couldn't throw the rocks.

"M-m-my body. I can't move it."

Natsuhiko and Keiko made a move to help their comrade, but found themselves in a similar predicament.

Keiko's eyes moved frantically back and forth though her head stayed still. "I can't move either."

Natsuhiko cried out loud. "Lemme go!"

"Kai." The Shikamaru laying in front of them poofed into oblivion.

They all slouched and stuck their hands in their pockets. Their heads turned to look over their left shoulder. Sure enough their sensei was looking back at them in a similar position.

"Hey, kids." Shikamaru cracked his neck and turned around fully, his students mimicking his movements precisely.

"You cheated. There are no bells are there," shouted Natsuhiko. "How are we supposed to pass a rigged test?"

"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I said: 'You're to obtain these bells," said Shikamaru as patted the bells on his belt. "by any means necessary while I take a nap under this tree."

The three of his students managed to have their mouths agape. The thought that the original Shikamaru was the one carrying the bells did not cross their minds. The fact that they'd been had by such a rudimentary trick was aggravating.

"Mou, Sensei. That's cheating," whined Kasumi.

Natsuhiko chimed in with a "Yeah!"

"Does that mean we don't get to be ninja of Konoha, Sensei," asked Keiko.

"No. You've still yet to fail. You can still attempt to get the bells. What's the quickest way to get his item from the 'target'," said Shikamaru as he pointed his thumb at himself.

The three groaned. It was already well past six o'clock at night. They had exhausted their tools save for their smoke grenades. However it was their fatigue that was the major contributing factor toward not wanting to continue. Fighting their clone sensei had been more depleting than they had originally thought. Even thinking was beginning to become a chore.

"Sensei," pleaded Kasumi. "We've been at this all day. Could you please give us the bells?"

She was surprised when Shikamaru threw something in her face. She just closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable impact, but none came. Another surprise came when she realized that she had stopped the missile with her hand. She opened her palm up and found three bells within it.

"Congratulations! You all pass."

With their bodies back in their control they chose to slump down to the ground.

Keiko was the first to come to grips. "But why?"

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "This test was originally planned to test the foundation of your teamwork and if you could set aside individual goals for the sake of the team. I did away with that when I told you to work as a team. The test you just now took was designed to test your ability to think out of the box." Shikamaru smiled. "I'm glad to say that I liked your unorthodox use of your tools. However it was the method with which you obtained these bells that allowed me to pass you. Though we are shinobi and violence comes with that job we mustn't rule out that we interact with people and sometimes brute force need not apply."

He was surprised that they seemed willing to accept this relatively radical philosophy. They nodded along as he explained to them. Keiko even took out a pen and paper to take notes.

"We'll have the eye exam later. Okay, any questions? None. Then you're dismissed. I'll see you tomorrow morning at oh-six-hundred hours. No, make that oh-seven-hundred. I wanna sleep in. All that fighting was exhausting."

A sandal flew and hit him smack dab in the forehead. He smiled as he watched his students walk away victorious, with Natsuhiko walking away with a noticeable limp.


	3. Family

Keiko walked slowly, deliberately to her family's two story house on the far end of town just before hitting the city walls. Her thoughts weighed her down and slowed her pace to a crawl.

_I'm a ninja,_ she thought, _a full fledged ninja under the command of one of the most decorated and renowned ninja of the whole village._

The notion of that nearly floored her. Her thoughts drifted to her team mates. _I forgot to look at the class rankings, but I think those two ranked pretty high._ With that thought in mind, she resigned herself to just having to train ten times as hard as she had previously._._

She picked up her head and entered her home.

"Hey, Dad."

"Keiko, how's that sensei of yours doing?" asked her father as he sat at the dining table reading the newspaper. Keiko's father was of middling height and weight, but showed an unusually large bald spot for a man in his early thirties. He chalked it all up to 'Stressing about your mom being a ninja.' "Learn anything good today?"

"He was alright," she said seemingly to no one in particular while twirling her hair with her finger. "We didn't learn too much today, just thinking out of the box is all."

Keiko's father walked over to their refrigerator and retrieved two juice boxes then handed her one. She gave him a weird look and made no attempt to grab what he was offering.

"Aren't I a little old for that?"

"Since when is grape juice only for two year olds?"

"I didn't say all that!" she said as she snatched the juice box out of his hand. "Anyway, how was your day Dad?"

He smiled a little smile as he recalled his day. "The lady at the farmer's market gave me another pineapple today."

Keiko gave her dad a nudge with her elbow. "I think someone's got a crush on you," she said in a teasing manner.

"Yeah, right. Who'd have a crush on this?" With that he ruffled what little hair he had left on his head.

"Dad, a boy doesn't have to have a full head of hair to catch a girl's eye." She took her dad's drink and threw it in the trash with hers. She looked out the window wistfully. "It's the way you carry yourself, the aura of self assuredness that borders on cocky, the way you always have your hands in your pockets. The way you put your hair up – I mean!" Keiko had barely caught herself before she said anymore.

"Was that supposed to be a bald joke? If it was it wasn't even funny."

"He he, I guess it isn't, huh? I'm going to go to train some more now. Bye, Dad."

Keiko's dad scratched his head.

"What kind of ninja puts his hair up nowadays?"

***

Yawn. "I thought I dismissed you earlier. This is my alone time."

Keiko had caught Shikamaru shuffling towards the place where all the old men played their old-man games. Shikamaru had been a regular since his days as a Genin with team ten after his sensei, Asuma, had introduced him to shogi.

"I know, Sensei, but I think that I'd have a better chance of progression if I specialized in ninjutsu. I need to learn a great deal of jutsu and the sooner the better because I've got a long way to go before I know as much as the Professor."

Shikamaru regarded her carefully. She just referenced the third Hokage who was known to a lot of people as Professor for his seemingly infinite knowledge of ninjutsu. She had to be at least somewhat invested in becoming proficient with ninjutsu to reference a ninja whom she'd never even met, even if he was the third Hokage.

Shikamaru sighed. "Okay, if you're committed to becoming a ninjutsu specialist then I'll help you."

Keiko's face lit up like a fire jutsu.

"But," Shikamaru added "I can't do it right now. Until tomorrow take four kunai and insert your first two fingers of each hand into one of them, then proceed to twirl them like so." With that Shikamaru took out four kunai and twirled them just like he told her to do.

Keiko made a face. "Excuse me Sensei, but what does this have to do with my training to become a ninjutsu specialist?"

Shikamaru sighed again. _Did we ever cause Asuma this much trouble?_ "It has to do with dexterity. This exercise should help increase the speed at which you form hand seals."

Keiko quickly bowed and ran off only turning her head to yell a "Thank you, Sensei!"

Shikamaru sighed again. "Troublesome."

***

"Taro, I'm home!" called Kasumi. She threw her gear into the hall closet. Inside were boxes filled with things that neither her brother nor she has used in years. Old baby clothes of hers were strewn haphazardly along with various toys from her childhood. Kasumi closed them without a second glance.

"Taro, are you home?"

Taro responded. "Yeah, I'm in the kitchen."

Kasumi walked into the kitchen and was greeted with the intoxicating aroma of her brother's vegetable tempura. Kasumi sat down

The kitchen itself was cozy, but neat. The cupboards were plain looking with a reddish-brown staining which contrasted the lime green wallpaper that Taro was given. The linoleum floor gleamed though it showed several stains, which spoke that Taro's need of cleanliness did not extend to psychotic scrubbing.

"What's with you cooking? That's unusual." asked Kasumi.

"I know, but it was your first day as part of a four man cell so I wanted to make dinner for you. You got home earlier than I expected though so it's gonna be a few minutes. I actually just put them on right now," answered Taro as he eyed the food. "Anyway, how was your first outing with your Jounin sensei?"

"Oh, it was pretty fun."

Taro turned his head slightly so that Kasumi caught his gaze. "Is that all you got to say about it?"

"Well, I guess I could tell you about the test he gave us." Kasumi retreated to the living room and launched herself onto a nearby cushion. "But later. After dinner."

Taro sighed. "Geez. Do you always have to be bribed with food? Shouldn't you be worried about watching your figure or something ridiculous like that?"

"Well, I guess since I'm a ninja and I have a high metabolism I don't' have to worry about that." Kasumi gave her brother an obnoxious smile. "But I guess some of us are luckier than others."

Taro gave her a stern stare and subconsciously sucked in his belly. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm as thin and fit as I ever was."

With that said, Taro proceeded to do push-ups in front of Kasumi.

"Oh, you're on, Nii-chan."

Kasumi got down into position and they began furiously doing push-ups while goading each other on.

"You getting tired, Nii-chan?" panted Kasumi as she completed another push-up. The floor beneath her was now soaked in perspiration.

"No. Why? You can't do anymore or something?" Taro too looked exhausted as he pushed himself up another time.

An odd smell reached their noses at the same time: "What's that smell?"

"The tempura!" cried Taro as he raced into the kitchen, in vain, to save their dinner.

Taro returned to Kasumi carrying a smoking pan filled with char covered vegetables.

"Wanna go to see that new movie?" asked Taro as he wiped a bead of sweat from his chin. "Then later we can go to the ramen stand for dinner."

"Sounds like a plan," said Kasumi as she jumped up and dusted herself off. "I'm gonna change though. I smell like you."

A charred piece of carrot flew above Kasumi as she ducked out of sight and into her room.

***

Seven o'clock in the morning came and Team Twelve could see their sensei's head from among the crowd. Shikamaru pushed his way over to where his team waited.

"Good morning, Sensei!"

"Good morning," replied Shikamaru wearily. He tilted his head this way and that in order to get the kinks out from sleeping awkwardly. _Getting hit by old ladies with parasols on the way here didn't' help either._

"What are we doing today, Sensei?" asked Natsuhiko. "Are we taking some other weird test?"

"No, today we're taking a mission we-"

Kasumi's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "We're taking an A-class mission?"

"Ahem. No. I said we're taking _a_ mission," said Shikamaru as he looked into a notebook that he pulled from his hip pouch.

Keiko and Natsuhiko breathed a sigh of relief from the knowledge that their first mission wouldn't be so difficult as to be ranked an 'A'. Kasumi however proceeded to pout.

"Then what _are_ we going to be doing?"

"We're going to do some gardening."

Kasumi looked aghast. "Gardening? Did we do something wrong? Shouldn't we be out there busting some skulls? How many of these crappy missions do we have to do?"

Keiko looked over at Kasumi quizzically. "I don't know about bashing skulls, but shouldn't we be doing something to benefit the ninja community?"

Keiko looked like she wanted to add something to the conversation, but thought better of it.

Shikamaru sighed. "What we do, as ninjas, is more than just the betterment of ninjadom or the hidden-village. We're commissioned by the citizens of the Fire Country and on rare occasions by citizens of neighboring countries. What we do, as Konoha ninjas, is work for the world's benefit."

Shikamaru eyed his students appraisingly. The three of them seemed to swell up with what he assumed was pride. Natsuhiko's chest seemed to have risen and her chin stuck up a little bit higher, Keiko's eyes sparkled and Kasumi pumped a fist into the air. He secretly thought that his speech was actually a little stupid, but he guessed it struck some nerve with his students to respond that obviously.

"To answer your other question, we'll be receiving these 'crappy missions' until the mission coordinator thinks we can handle other duties."

Keiko raised her hand. "Sensei, could you tell us the specifics of the mission we're undertaking?"

Shikamaru smirked and waved dismissively at her hand raising. "There's no need to be so formal. We're going to old-man Tanaka's farm and we're going to be plowing, tilling, and planting seeds on his land. In addition to that we've also been asked to chase down a rogue cow that seems to have gotten loose and is probably roaming around the woods near his place.

"Consequently, I don't want anyone to attack the cow. We're to take it back to Mr. Tanaka unharmed."

"How much are we getting paid?" asked Kasumi.

"We get twenty zenni after the completion of the mission."

Kasumi stroked her chin pensively. "So, if we finish this one quick then we could squeeze in a few more missions before the day is done right?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "No. I doubt that we could finish before the day is finished. And we might have to come back tomorrow too."

Kasumi and Keiko groaned. Natsuhiko seemed ready and eager to go.

"Okay. First we head to his place. Then our first priority is to find the cow. Keiko and Kasumi, I'm putting you two on cow-finding duty. Natsuhiko and I will begin plowing the field. Questions? Then let's go."


	4. Tanaka's Farm

Author's note: Forgive me the long delay. Firstly I lost about three chapters worth of material when my computer just up and decided to die. Then I just became too lazy to recreate the chapters I had. I went back and changed a bit of the first two chapters – minor corrections and a bit of other stuff to call back to for future chapters – which led me to finally write a bit more of this. Unfortunately, you shouldn't expect timely updates. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for reviewing.

* * *

"Mou. Keiko-chan we've been looking for this cow for hours," whined Kasumi. "And Kasumi is exhausted."

"But we still haven't found it," chided Keiko. "We can't just leave our assignmet while Shikamaru-sensei and Yamada-san are plowing the field. We've got to hurry so that we can be of help to them."

"Sure, sure. Just give me five minutes to rest my feet are aching."

Kasumi sat on a large rock nearby. The woods were surprisingly hot that day and the relative humidity was 70. She and Keiko had been searching for the missing cow in the woods since they were assigned to find the cow. Keiko was fidgeting and pacing about while Kasumi fanned herself with her hand. Keiko worried that Shikamaru and Natsuhiko would be done before Kasumi and she could find the cow and that that would reflect badly in how her Sensei would see her.

"Are – what's that?" asked Kasumi. Keiko brought her hand to shield her eyes from sunlight that was peeking through the tree-top line. Off in the distance she could see two figures moving about Tanaka-san's farm. She pulled out her binoculars and found herself looking at Shikamaru and Natsuhiko and soon zoomed in solely on Shikamaru. She let out a sigh as she watched Shikamaru wipe sweat from his brow with his sleeve before removing his Chuunin vest.

A large hand waved in front of Keiko's vision.

"Helloooo? The cow is moving," said Kasumi. "We better get it now before it runs off even deeper in the forest."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Let's do that," replied Keiko as she quickly stashed her binoculars in her bag. "Which way did it go?"

Kasumi nodded her head in the direction the cow went. "Follow me. I can still see it. We can nab it quick and still have enough time to receive another mission."

"Got it."

Kasumi took off into the woods with Keiko right behind her.

* * *

_Ugh. I forgot how troublesome these D-ranked missions were. Why'd I ever think this farm mission was going to be sweet? Should've taken that C-ranked mission to Cloud country. Maybe I'd see one there._

Shikamaru stared up at the sky. Not one cloud in the air from where he stood._  
_

Natsuhiko snapped Shikamaru out of his reverie. "Sensei, I think that's the whole field. Should we get right to planting or wait for them to get back?"

Shikamaru wiped sweat from his brow with his sleeve and then proceeded to take off his Chuunin vest. It was high noon and the long sleeve shirt underneath his vest was drenched in sweat. He thought about taking his shirt off as well, but decided against it. The last thing he needed was for his team to file for harrassment against him. Now he wished he had assigned himself to cow finding duty.

"As much as I'd like to wait for them – and I really want to just wait for them – we'd better just move on to planting seeds. We don't know if they're any closer to catching the cow and have no idea when they'll return. Troublesome."

The two of them began walking towards the shed that Tanaka-san keeps his seeds. Shikamaru held his vest underneath his left arm and his hoe in his right hand. Natsuhiko walked to his right and one step behind.

Shikamaru looked sideways at Natsuhiko. "You seem pretty familiar with farm tools." She gave him a half smile. It wasn't a question, but Natsuhiko felt obligated to respond to him.

"Yeah. I do a little gardening sometimes," replied Natsuhiko. She kept her eyes on the ground as she spoke. She kept a tight grip on the hoe in her hands and kept them close to her body. Shikamaru thought it unusual, but dismissed it.

_ She's probably just nervous having to speak to me without her teammates here._

"Ano. Sensei, could I ask you a favor?" Natsuhiko's knuckles turned white from the pressure she was applying to the hoe.

Shikamaru was about to answer "no" reflexively, but held his tongue. The least he could do was here her out.

"What do you need?"

Natsuhiko stayed quiet for several moments. Finally, she stopped which prompted Shikamaru to stop as well. She lifted her head and Shikamaru could see that her face was flush and she was intent on meeting him eye to eye.

"C-could I sleep with you?"

Shikamaru couldn't keep the surprise from his face as his eyebrows threatened to dissappear into his hair.

"The village doesn't take to kindly to pedophiles, Natsuhiko-chan," replied Shikamaru. He hoped by addressing her as "chan" she'd be able to tell he was trying to illustrate the desparate difference in their ages.

Natsuhiko's heart fluttered at the thought that he didn't outright say no to "sleeping" with her. "Goddammit," cried out Natsuhiko. She tried to rub out the tomato-red coloring on her face to no avail.

"I meant could I stay at your place? I'd rather not go back home."

"Hmm." _I don't remember reading anything about problems at home in the dossiers. In fact the there was a lack of any information on any of their parents. Troublesome. I'm gonna have to talk to Tsunade-sama about this._

"I'll have to speak with Tsunade-sama about this," Shikamaru said as he opened the door to the shed. "I'm pretty sure that she'll say no, but we can try." He was pretending to shuffle through a bags of seed. "What do you need to sleep at my place for?" He tried to keep his tone light, almost uninterested.

Natsuhiko began to place the bags of seed near the door as she thought about how to answer. "I'd rather not say, Sensei."

Shikamaru used his shadow to carry several bags out the shed. "Okay. Let's start planting then."

"Hai." Natsuhiko was glad that he changed the topic even if they'd have to revisit it at the Hokage's office.

* * *

Team twelve gathered in front of Tanaka-san's house with the sun setting just behind them.

"Thanks to you kids I'll be able to reach this years quota." Tanaka-san said as he handed them large pieces of sugar cane.

"Thank you, Tanaka-san," replied the three genin. Natushiko began chewing at the end of her cane. Kasumi and Keiko were unsure of what to do with theirs so they just stashed it into their bags.

Team twelve waved their goodbyes as they walked back toward headquarters. The farm now fully out of sight Kasumi voiced her question: "Are we only getting sugar canes from these missions?"

Shikamaru let out a small laugh. "No, we get paid money. Old-man Tanaka just has a soft spot for kunoichi." As Shikamaru said this he showed his two hands that were sans sugar cane.

"Maybe he just doesn't like you, Sensei," said Kasumi.

"Thanks, Kasumi. That just really warmed my heart." Kasumi gave her sensei a large smile.

Keiko chimed in. "I don't think anyone could not like you, Sensei."

Kasumi gave a long sigh. "Were you always a brown-noser, Keiko?"

"I'm not a brown-noser," retorted Keiko quickly.

Kasumi rolled her eyes and put her hands behind her head. "Yeah, well you look like a brown-noser."

Shikamaru let out a small sigh. The walk back toward headquarters looked even longer than when they first left Tanaka's farm. Natsuhiko kept at her sugar cane while her teammates now began to argue about the difference between brown-nosing and being a kiss-ass.

"They're basically the same thing," said Shikamaru. "No more chatter."

Slightly peeved the Keiko and Kasumi holstered their argument. Kasumi looked over to Natsuhiko who was still chewing on her cane. Kasumi took the sugar cane from her bag and took a small bite.

"Mmm. It's sweet."

Natsuhiko nodded. "Yeah. You should try it too, Keiko. It's good."

Keiko looked unconviced that what looked like a stick of bamboo could taste like anything other than grass. However she brightened up as she brought out the sugar cane in one hand and kunai in the other.

"Sensei, hold this please." Keiko let Shikamaru hold one end of the sugar cane and then proceeded to slice the cane in two. "Now we can all have some."

Shikamaru took a bite. "Thanks, Keiko."

"Such a brown-noser," Kasumi said under her breath.

"I'm _not_ a brown-noser," replied Keiko.

Natsuhiko smiled as she matched her pace to Shikamaru's.

"So what do you think, Sensei?"

Shikamaru looked back at his team, Keiko and Kasumi having resumed their "brown-noser" debate, and gave a little chuckle. "It's pretty sweet."


End file.
